Forest Conservation, Rights, and Diets: Untangling the Issues

Terence C Sunderland,Winy Vasquez

doi:10.3389/ffgc.2020.00029

Abstract

Recent research has highlighted the contributions of forests and tree-based systems to both dietary diversity and nutrition as well as agricultural production in the form of tree-based ecosystem services. Wild foods provide a significant nutritional contribution to the diets of rural dwellers, the majority of whom would be classified as some of the world’s poorest. Yet, despite the important human-forest interactions and relative degrees of forest dependency, access to much of the global forest estate is increasingly regulated under the guise of biodiversity conservation. How this restricted access plays out when the “right to food” is a deeply enshrined human right has been deeply contested, particularly with regard to land annexation. This paper outlines the critical issues related to the dietary diversity and nutrition in the context of the availability of wild foods juxtaposed with the growing call for the annexation of land for conservation. We suggest that a more integrated and equitable approach to land management that embraces both biodiversity conservation and broader food security and nutrition goals can provide multiple benefits, while mitigating local conflicts. As such, a rights-based approach to conservation and an embracing of broader landscape perspectives are possible strategies to achieve these seemingly conflicting agendas.

Highlights

For the majority of our history we humans have sustained ourselves by foraging edible plants and hunting animals encountered in grasslands, forests and other wild habitats (Smith et al, 1983)
Of the estimated 1.6 billion people said to be dependent on forests in some way (FAO, 2014a) many derive much of their dietary diversity and, nutrition and broader health, from wild foods (Ickowitz et al, 2014; Powell et al, 2015)
In recent years considerable evidence has emerged that forests and other wild habitats continue to contribute to the dietary diversity and overall nutrition of hundreds of millions of people, those affected by chronic poverty (Ickowitz et al, 2014; HLPE, 2017a)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

For the majority of our history we humans have sustained ourselves by foraging edible plants and hunting animals encountered in grasslands, forests and other wild habitats (Smith et al, 1983). Of the estimated 1.6 billion people said to be dependent on forests in some way (FAO, 2014a) many derive much of their dietary diversity and, nutrition and broader health, from wild foods (Ickowitz et al, 2014; Powell et al, 2015). In recent years considerable evidence has emerged that forests and other wild habitats continue to contribute to the dietary diversity and overall nutrition of hundreds of millions of people, those affected by chronic poverty (Ickowitz et al, 2014; HLPE, 2017a). Further evidence suggests that more complex biodiverse environments are linked with better nutrition outcomes (Sunderland, 2011; Dawson et al, 2019) This is especially important for rural populations with limited market access or who are suffering the effects of poverty and are not able to purchase sufficient food to nourish themselves or their families.

Contribution of Wild Foods to Diets

ENSURE DIETARY DIVERSITY

IN CONCLUSION

Findings

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS